And You Are?: Perseverance a prerequisite squaring off with big players

Gordon Hart is CEO of Selectpath Benefits in London. Hart says insurance was not his passion but he fell in love with helping people manage through tough times and found the business offers its own rewards. (DEREK RUTTAN, The London Free Press)

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On a wall in Gordon Hart’s office is a photograph with the word perseverance emblazoned beneath it.

It’s a mantra he lives by every day.

As chief executive of Selectpath, a workplace benefits and financial services company, Hart is helping carve a niche for his London business that competes against banks, credit unions and life insurance companies.

“We have enormous competitors. Banks are in our business, credit unions are in our business, London Life is churning out agents and even accountants step into what we do,” Hart said.

“This is a crowded industry.”

That’s where the perseverance comes in.

“I went into the insurance industry kicking and screaming, but what I found was pensions and benefits consulting and that lit a fire in me. Same thing with building the business, we are competing with conglomerates. If you work hard, opportunities will arise, you have to be ready. That is where perseverance helps.”

That drive has established Selectpath as one of the 10 largest independent benefit providers in Canada. The company experienced double-digit growth and was named among the Top 100 fastest-growing businesses in Canada from 2002 to 2006 by Profit Magazine.

Selectpath also was named the top small business in London in 2007 at the London Chamber of Commerce business achievement awards. Hart doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

“I see us moving into new spaces, new capabilities because there is a need for our clients. We are good at helping people be successful.”

Selectpath, on Richmond Row, just south of Oxford St., is undergoing something of a transition these days. It recently bought Carswell Partners, expanding its product offerings into human resources services along with providing benefits and financial services for individuals and businesses.

To understand the business’s direction, all one need know is that a conversation with Hart is filled with references to the term “pivot point,” business jargon referring to changing directions to grow business and adapt to changing trends in the market.

“We have had them in our business, where we are going down a path and then taken a new direction. We are trying to find the pivot points, to have more resources to meet the needs of clients.”

Selectpath has a history of such pivots. It was founded in 1994 as JWK Select Benefit Services and in 1996 Hart merged his business G.R. Hart Insurance with it. In 2001 it acquired Sabourin Financial and after that “dramatic growth” followed.

“By adding talent to the pool we created an environment where people focused their energies in delivering” that type of growth, Hart said.

Selectpath has 34 employees and Carswell adds six. Selectpath also has an office in Sarnia after it bought Rowe Financial in 2007.

That trend toward growth by acquisition is not going to stop any time soon, Hart said.

“We have a stable of professionals that is unparalleled. . . . We found ways to bring together individuals who complement what we are doing very well. Our stable is very rich in talent and capability.”

Selectpath has also carved out a niche making it one of the largest businesses in the country consulting in health-care practices for hospitals, including the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre.

“We work with five consortium of hospitals, thousands of workers,” said Hart, adding London hospitals are not part of the mix.

Selectpath has more than 850 business it provides benefits for, across Ontario, especially the Toronto area, and in the U.S. It also has about 5,000 personal household clients in Southwestern Ontario, with $200 million in assets under management, (the amount of investments it has) and another $200 million in premiums, that is value of its benefits and insurance it handles for clients.

“We are a significant player in investments,” Hart said. “London is the smallest part of our business, we are unknown and get more traction in the Toronto area.”

As a young man, Hart was always was “entrepreneurial driven” even though he grew up in a home where his father was a renowned Ottawa physician, Ian Hart, a medical educator.

He was drawn to Western with an interest in playing football, but settled in as a rugby player for the school, and then a cheerleader, winning national championships.

Hart graduated from Western with a degree in economics.

“I sent out 257 letters looking for a job. I got back three responses, two of them were from insurance companies.

“I backed into the industry. It was not my passion, but I fell in love with helping people manage through tough times. It’s rewarding.”

That help is needed more than ever, he said, referring to the trend among business to cut “deep and hard” into pensions and benefits for workers.

“Organizations need to stop thinking of human capital and start thinking of people and building a relationship. They have looked at benefits as a cost, and that is a terribly short-sighted approach.”

Hart also believes in supporting people outside his business, giving 1% of revenue — not profit — to local causes such as the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, Children’s Museum and Grand Theatre, to name a few.

As for the future, Selectpath will continue with its aggressive expansion and targeting others for acquisition, but expect it to remain in London for a long time, Hart said.

“We get asked all the time to sell our business. I don’t see us doing it. We are a big entity, but I’m a having too much fun. We are entrepreneurial, that is what we are about.”

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THE STATS

Born: Ottawa

Age: 42

Education: Western University, economics, 1993.

Family: Married to Lesley, three children aged 11, 9 and 6.

Other jobs: Hospital support worker, insurance sales for Sun Life Financial

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EITHER/OR

Ski or sun: sun

Bottle or tap water: tap

Beer or wine: both

Coffee or tea: tea

Salad or fries: salad

Cat or dog: dog

Rock or country or jazz: all

Snowblower or shovel: shovel

Fiction or non-fiction: non fiction

Port Stanley or Grand Bend: Grand Bend.

Early riser or night owl: early riser

Tims or Starbucks: Starbucks

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THE QUOTE

"Organizations need to stop thinking of human capital and start thinking of people and building a relationship."